Brent Falls to $92 on Strong Dollar, Surplus
Brent crude futures fell to near $92 a barrel on Monday, extending this year's rout that saw the international benchmark hit a 27-month low in the previous session due to a strong U.S. dollar and ample oil supply.
Brent lost nearly 5 percent last week, its steepest decline since April 2013. The oil finished its fourth week in five lower after the dollar touched a four-year high on Friday.
"My feeling is the fall in Brent has gone far enough - $90 is the breakeven point for Saudi Arabia to maintain current levels of public spending," said Tony Nunan, oil risk manager at Tokyo's Mitsubishi Corp.
"We are already underwater for countries like Iran and Russia" where oil prices have fallen below the level needed to meet spending commitments, Nunan added.
The last time Brent dropped below $90 was in June 2012, and Nunan said that support level could be breached today, if the dollar sustains its gains.
A firmer greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities such as oil more costly for buyers using other currencies.
Brent for November delivery was down 33 cents at $91.98 a barrel by 0421 GMT. The benchmark touched $91.48 on Friday, its lowest since June 2012.
U.S. November crude slipped 7 cents to $89.67 a barrel.
The dollar hovered near a four-year peak against a basket of currencies after a strong U.S. jobs report on Friday bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates by mid-2015 or earlier.
U.S. non-farm payrolls rose 248,000 last month and the jobless rate fell to 5.9 percent, the lowest since July 2008.
A cut in output by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could support oil prices, but the group is not due to meet until Nov. 27 and there have been no signals that it will take action before then.
OPEC member Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude exporter, will maintain steady supplies to at least two Asian buyers in November, industry sources said.
"Despite all the geopolitical risks in the market there is still a surplus of crude. That's been the case in the last six months, but we are now entering the higher demand winter season," Nunan said.
Kurdish forces battled with Islamist militants for control of Kobani, a town on the Syrian border, on Sunday after insurgents ramped up their offensive despite being targeted with air strikes by a U.S.-led coalition.
In eastern Ukraine, a ceasefire is under threat after Kiev accused Moscow-backed separatists of again violating a month-old ceasefire in fighting that killed at least five Ukraine and rebel forces and injured 38 in Donetsk.
Editing by Manolo Serapio Jr. and Tom Hogue
